Athletics Hosts 'Thanksgiving with the Tigers'

BATON ROUGE - LSU student-athletes, athletic administration, athletic trainers, the L Club, cheerleaders, Tiger Girls and Mike the Tiger came together to give back to the community for the school's annual "Thanksgiving with the Tigers" holiday event Monday at the Maravich Center.

The event was coordinated by the LSU's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athlete Affairs.

"This was a great way to kick off the holiday season," football's James Hairston, who also serves as SAAC's Marketing and Publicity Chair, said. "Seeing all of these children light up when they are opening their gifts is amazing. They are so appreciative."

Each LSU team was given the opportunity to adopt an underprivileged child through St. Vincent de Paul for the evening. Each adopted child ate a Thanksgiving meal with their team as well as received gifts in the spirit of the holiday season.

After the meal, the student-athletes and kids played games like basketball, hula hoop and parachute in the Maravich Center.

"Playing with the children and watching the children open gifts is one of the most rewarding parts of doing this," gymnast Rheagan Courville said. "This event not only gives the children joy during this season, but also makes myself and my teammates appreciate everything we have."

In total, LSU helped 22 children through the "Thanksgiving with the Tigers" event to experience the true essence of what the holiday season is about.